Latest credit card breech: Home Depot

[thewayne]

It could go back to April or May of this year, and it looks like all stores were affected, which means a main server breech. And it was probably the same group that did Target et al.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/09/banks-credit-card-breach-at-home-depot/

Comments

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

The probability that more cards were compromised than Target is very high as the leak went undetected for much longer and also the strong nation-wide presence.

Aside from paying cash (risk of ATM skimmers) and writing checks (inconvenience, slower payment), there was an interesting suggestion in the comments. Get two credit cards, one is used only for vendor-initiated bill payments and is locked away and never leaves the house, the other is used for only ad hoc purchases and is paid promptly. When a breech happens or fraudulent activity is seen, the card is recycled. The process doesn't address the inconvenience of a card being out of play for a month, but it does limit exposure.

Another method would be to go to the bank and to do cash withdrawals from the tellers, but that adds to the inconvenience.

A friend said 'When are they going to develop Black Ice?' Another thought that this is proof that Russia is really a first-world power as they have their international criminal element so firmly suppressed. [/sarcasm]

[silveradept]

The two-card option does seem like the best idea - but only if all your regular and ad-hoc merchants accept the right type of card. If you can manage that, then all is good.